Jojo’s end draws near

Over the many years that it’s been published JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has gone through multiple parts, 8 to be exact, and I believe part 8: JoJolion is the best work to come from writer and artist Hirohiko Araki. Fans of the series may argue that the earlier parts or part 7 are the best parts. Part 3: Stardust Crusaders is the titular favorite part for those who are new to the series which is an understandable opinion seeing how it was the first part to introduce the series most iconic feature Stands, and one of manga and animes most recognizable protagonists Jotaro Kujo. The story telling of part 3 falls flat when compared to any of the other later parts, the style of villain of the week gets old after just one re-read, fights are predictable and plotholes are found left and right. 

Others say Part 4 is their favorite, the self contained quiet town of Morioh along with the plot of hunting down a serial killer make a much more engaging story. Accompany this with the fun charismatic Josuke Higashikata as your main JoJo and the part has a lot going for it. However, like the previous part it falls to the plotholes found in the part, along with a drag in the story when it nears its final conflict. 

Part 7 is the part that every single manga reader goes to when talking about the best parts of JoJo’s and while I do think that this part has some of Arakis best work it still fails to beat part 8 as my favorite, the main JoJo Jonathan “Johnny” Joestar is a selfish man who wants nothing but to be able to help himself, this is what made him a wonderful main character because he isn’t a hero, he isn’t a knight in shining armor, and he isn’t some kind hearted goody two shoes like some of the past main JoJo’s and this is why I like him as well. 

But Part 8’s main JoJo Jousuke “Gappy” Higashikata is easily my favorite main JoJo of all the parts, the mystery of the main character just showing up randomly not knowing where he is, who he is, and any memories before being found and rescued leads to great character development. He learns how to fight, he learns about his past and the unfortunate events that lead to the death of two people to create him. He learns about the family that takes him in and how one of them may not be who they really say they are, he learns about his mother Holly whom he fights to cure from an illness that will take her life. Jousuke is a great protagonist, he isn’t a goody two shoes, nor is he a selfish anti-hero he’s just a man that makes decisions based on what he believes to be right or wrong he will just as easily risk his life for a girl he doesn’t know but at the same time punch a mans head into pieces in front of a crowd. 

The sleepy town of Morioh is reused this time in a new universe and Araki expertly fills it with life and believable characters the main villain hasn’t even been revealed yet but there is still a tangible end goal that you can root for Jousuke to reach, all of this culminates into a perfect part of JoJo’s. As of February 2020 Jojo’s Bizarre adventure part 8: JoJolion is on it’s 93rd chapter with a new one coming later in the month which will put the series on hiatus for a month. On average around 100 chapters is the maximum that Araki is known to write and we are approaching that count very soon, JoJo’s in the west has only caught traction thanks to the anime adaptation in 2012 and has only now began to explode. There has never been a part of JoJo that has concluded when the western fans really began ramping up, only the very early adopters were around for a parts ending. For fans of the series the ending of part 8 will be a big deal, and will lead to a bigger boom in the fanbase because of the inevitable influx of people talking about it in whole.